SK Hynix aims to triple NAND sales from Intel deal, CEO says 

SK Hynix will triple its sales from its NAND flash memory business in the next five years following its acquisition of Intel’s NAND unit, company CEO Lee Seok-hee said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the company’s third quarters conference call, Lee said the company aims to become a top memory player, not just a leader in DRAM.

According to Omdia, SK Hynix’s sales from NAND flash in 2019 was US$4.552 billion.

Intel’s NAND unit, meanwhile, posted sales of US$2.8 billion in the first half of 2020. 

Considering this, South Korean analysts believe SK Hynix’s goal is achievable.

SK Hynix’s shares closed 2.21% higher on Wednesday after Lee shared the company’s new business target.

The South Korean firm will use its own cash and assets for half the acquisition price of Intel while it was considering using outside loans for the other half, Lee said.

Lee and executives at the conference denied that they will use the cash they invested in competitor Kioxia in the short term, saying they have enough capacity on hand to come up with the cash needed for the acquisition.

SK Hynix will use Intel’s Dailian facility for cold storage sector. SK Hynix’s current facilities focus on hot storage areas and mobile. 

The South Korean firm will utilize Intel’s competence in solid-state drive (SSD) for data centers and floating gate technology for quad level cell (QLC) with its own SSD business for an expanded portfolio, the CEO said.

SK Hynix has posted operating profit of 1.29 trillion won and sales of 8.12 trillion won in the third quarter. It is a rise of 175% and 18.9%, respectively, year-on-year.